Texas to Buy Crane Habitat

Using spill settlement

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Texas will use money from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement to preserve 80 acres of whooping crane habitat on the Gulf Coast. According to the terms of a deal signed on Tuesday, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department will use $2 million from MOEX Offshore, a partner in the oil well, to acquire the land, which it plans to incorporate into Goose Island State Park. The department will buy the tract through the nonprofit Texas Nature Conservancy in order to avoid red tape that could potentially hold up the handover, which is set to be completed by the end of May. Texas is the first state to spend money from the settlement for coastal conservation.